INTRODUCTION

This book presents several cases of group migration to Britain which are taken as examples of refugee movements, and analyses the reactions of the British legal system which, in turn, conditioned the quality of asylum which the refugees received. They include gypsies who have come to Britain periodically when attempting to escape persecution on the European continent; Protestant Huguenots, also fleeing from persecution on the European continent; Africans who tried to escape slavery; various European refugee groups, mainly political exiles; groups of Jews who sought to escape victimisation in countries of East and Central Europe; Asians who fled or were expelled from East African countries; refugees from Vietnam; Tamils from Sri Lanka who were more recently joined by other groups of Asian and African refugees. Specifically, the practice of immigration control in Britain is analysed in relation to the migration of these groups, and it is argued that, in this context, the legal system has consistently been favourable to European refugee groups, while it has consistently rejected, or been hostile to, the presence of Asian and African groups.